While dairy products are delicious and highly proteinous food, they also pose a great threat and discomfort to some people. This discomfort caused by consuming dairy food is usually referred to as dairy allergy and lactose intolerance. Anyone who shows a negative physical reaction or feels utter discomfort after taking dairy food is manifesting either of these medical conditions. Although the latter is more common, the former is more intense and serious. Hence there is a need to understand the differences between dairy allergies and lactose intolerance, and how to manage them.
What are Dairy Allergies?
Also known as milk allergies, dairy allergies refer to the intense and immediate response of the immune system to milk consumption, or consumption of products containing milk. Dairy allergies are common with cow milk but can also be caused by other forms of milk including sheep, goats, buffalo, and other mammals. The allergic reaction is usually harsh and immediate upon consumption. Reactions include; hives, diarrhoea, vomiting, wheezing, and in acute scenarios it could result in anaphylaxis – a terrible allergic reaction that sends a flood of chemicals into the body, constricting airways and possibly resulting in unconsciousness.
Dairy allergies are caused by immune malfunction – when your body recognizes milk proteins like whey and casein as harmful and produces immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to neutralize these proteins.
Usually, children with dairy allergies tend to grow out of it, but those who don’t, have to carry it into their adulthood and keep avoiding milk.
What is Lactose Intolerance?
Lactose intolerance is simply the inability of the body to produce enough enzyme – lactase – to digest milk sugar- lactose. The lactase enzyme is usually produced in the small intestine to digest lactose substances.
However, when the small intestine produces too little of this enzyme, the body is unable to digest lactose properly therefore leading to lactose intolerance. If the lactase level is simply low, you might be able to consume lactose with no intolerance, but when your lactase level becomes too low, it can result in a series of discomfort.
Some of this discomfort includes belching, bloating, or stooling after consuming dairy products. This discomfort, howbeit immediate, is not life threatening and tends to pass over after a short time. This discomfort is very common in people with dairy allergies and lactose intolerance.
Tabular Difference between dairy allergies and lactose intolerance
| Dairy allergies | Lactose Intolerance | |
| 1 | Has to do with the immune system | Doesn’t have to do with the immune system |
| 2 | It can become life-threatening | It is not life-threatening |
| 3 | Reactions can last for a long period | Reactions are immediate but short |
| 4 | The individual has to avoid dairy products | Individuals can take dairy products with little lactose |
| 5 | Reactions are common in little children and can last throughout the lifetime | Reactions can be managed and improved with constant consumption of dairy products |
| 6 | No treatment available | Lactase supplements can give your body the lactase it needs to break down lactose. |
Conclusion:
It is important you see a medical doctor for a clearer diagnosis and professional counsel. Dairy is a very necessary part of our daily meals and a source of rich nutritional supplements. Yogurt for instance includes calcium, zinc, Protein, B vitamins, and probiotics. It’s quite sad if you have to exempt this from your meal because are either a victim of dairy allergies and lactose intolerance.
However, while people with dairy allergies might need to avoid milk products for the rest of their lives, people with lactose intolerance don’t. They can take yogurt products that have been strained thoroughly strained of their lactose content, like Zayith yogurt. Our Greek yogurts are strained traditionally to make them more conducive and less threatening for people with lactose intolerance. You can give it a try today.
